What Are The Different Options For How to
Use Video to Create My Online Course or Program?

Congratulations on your commitment to create an online course or program! This is a wonderful way for you to reach more people with what you have to offer, make an even greater impact with your work, and create a passive stream of revenue for your business.

We’ve successfully produced videos for a number of online courses and programs with previous clients in the past, so you’re in good hands.

The most important thing to consider before you start creating your course content, and before we start planning your filming day, is to figure out exactly how you’re going to deliver the information to the customers who purchase your online course or program.

There are several different ways that you can go about delivering your content, so we will be outlining them in detail, and showing you some examples below.

The bottom line when deciding how to deliver your content is to think about your customer’s experience. What will be the best way for your customers to receive the information that you are teaching? Don’t forget to think about their ability to stay focused, and to remain engaged and interested in your content.

Below are several different ways that we have used video to create online courses and programs with clients in the past. You may choose to use just one of these options, or a combination of one or more of them. We are happy to discuss the best option for your online course or program the next time we chat on the phone.

OPTION #1 – WE PRODUCE YOUR WELCOME VIDEO & MODULE INTRO VIDEOS ONLY

This is potentially the least expensive (and most time-consuming) option for you. In this scenario, you only hire us to professionally record as direct-to-camera videos the welcome video for your entire course or program, AND the intro videos for each module. And then, you record the actual course training content on your own, using a combination of PowerPoint or Keynote presentations, with your own voiceover.

We create a course welcome video, and as many module training videos as necessary, to deliver all the information to your course or program customers.

This is a hybrid option, where in addition to creating your course welcome video, we also create direct-to-camera intros & outros for each of your module training videos. Then, you create your own PowerPoint or Keynote training content. Finally, we combine the intros & outros that we film, with the training content that you provide, to create one or more finished training videos per module.

This is the easiest, and potentially least expensive way to use video to create your online course or program. In this scenario, we film and edit short intro videos (typically less than 5 minutes long each) for you. Ideally, you would create a general COURSE intro video, and a MODULE intro video for each module in the program.

The Course Intro Video welcomes people who have purchased the course when they login for the first time, and gives them an overview of what to expect, how to navigate around the course website, how to deliver homework assignments, how to schedule calls, etc.

The Module Intro Videos welcome people to each module, give an overview of what they will learn in that module, and any other information they need to get that most out of that module.

There are a few scenarios where this would be the best option:

1) If you are on a tight budget, and want to save some money, but still want to engage with your customers. However, in this scenario, you will also need to be technically savvy enough to create, record, and edit your own training content, which will require more of your time.

2) If your customers would benefit more from seeing a PowerPoint presentation with bullets, visuals, and other more stimulating images on the screen, rather than seeing your face throughout the entire training. Some content may be more effective when delivered as direct-to-camera talking-head videos, whereas other content may be more effective when delivered as a PowerPoint presentation. You may want to consider what would be the best way for your customers to absorb and retain the information you’re teaching them.

Sample Course/Program Intro Video (Excerpt Only)

Sample Course/Program Intro Video (Excerpt Only)

Sample Module Intro Video

Sample Module Intro Video

If you feel that the best way for your customers to absorb the course content information is to see you on-camera delivering all of the information, then you will want to choose this option.

Because of the length of these videos, we typically film 1 take for each module video, stopping and starting when we need to.

Since pricing of these videos is based on the length of the finished video, this option is usually the most expensive way to go.

With this option, there are several different ways you can go about it. Here are a few examples:

Example #1 – Fully script the course content in its entirety, and then use a teleprompter on our day of filming so you don’t need to memorize any of your content. Scripting your content will keep it succinct, and will also ensure that you hit on all the points that you want to make in your training in the most powerful and effective way. With this option you will have carefully thought through all of the content ahead of time, and you will be able to practice delivering your content, so that by the time we film, you will know exactly what you want to say, and you won’t have to worry about not being able to find the right words on the day of filming. This is a great option for someone who likes to be fully prepared, without having to “improv” or “wing it”, or worry that they might have a bad day, where the words aren’t flowing easily and freely. However, it does require the most preparation beforehand.

Example #2 – Outline the course content information with bullets, and speak more off-the-cuff. With this option, we would still use a teleprompter on the day of filming, but instead of having your content written out in its entirety, you would only need to prepare bullet points to keep you on track with what you want to say. In this case, your training modules may end up being longer because when we speak extemporaneously, we often add more words, more stories, and sometimes go off on unplanned tangents. However, this is a great option if you feel very confident speaking on camera and you love the idea of “winging it”, and you hate the idea of having to stick to a script that you’ve pre-written. This will require less of your time ahead of time, but potentially take longer to film. Also, in the editing process, your videos may end up being longer than anticipated.

Example #3 – We can turn your live speaking engagement into an online course or program that you can repurpose and sell. In this scenario, you can either provide us with a speaking engagement that has already previously been recorded, or you can potentially hire us to record an upcoming speaking engagement for you. However, we don’t necessarily recommend this option as our first choice, and here’s why: when you use option 1 or 2, you can be much more intentional with the content you’re delivering, AND you can speak directly to the viewer who has purchased your course, which may make them feel more connected to you and better able to absorb your content. Keep in mind that when you deliver a speaking engagement, you are speaking to a group of people who are there in person with you, and you are focused solely on connecting with the live in-person audience. When you try to repurpose that content to sell it to a viewing audience, it may not be as effective as your presentation was for the people in the room. Also, you may want to think about and consider the aesthetics of the room where your presentation was recorded. The lighting may have been bad, the room itself may not have been visually pleasing or the set up may not be on-brand for you. All of these things will impact the viewer’s experience of your course. While this may be the cheapest and easiest way to create an online course, it may also end up being the least effective and impressive.

Check out sample Course Content Videos below.

Sample Program Module Video (Excerpt)
Example #1 Above

Sample Program Module Video (Excerpt)
Example #1 Above

Sample Program Module Video
Example #1 Above

Sample Program Video
(Excerpt taken from live speaking engagement)
Example #3 Above

If you have a lot of information to share with your online course or program participants, and you are technologically savvy, you may want to deliver the bulk of the course content information using a PowerPoint or Keynote slideshow, with a simple voiceover that you create on your own.

However, if you want to jazz up your homemade training content, then we can produce professional, direct-to-camera intros and outros that “sandwich” your training content, and then package it all together for you into the finished training content videos.

Check out a sample video below. In this example, our client recorded her own PowerPoint/Keynote presentation with voiceover, then sent it to us, and we added the intros and outros during the post-production process. The end result was a much more professional looking training video for each module than she could have done on her own.